Many portable electronic devices, such as mobile phone, may comprise sensors to determine movement of the portable electronic devices. A variety of sensors may include accelerometer sensors, gyroscope sensors, compasses, geomagnetic sensors, Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors, etc.
An accelerometer sensor may sense a linear motion, for example, a translation in any plane, such as a local horizontal plane. The translation may be measured with reference to at least one axis. An accelerometer sensor may be used to sense an object's motion in, for example, a Cartesian coordinate space (e.g., x, y, and z). Further, the accelerometer may also be used to sense the direction of gravity to estimate an object's roll and pitch.
A global positioning system (GPS) sensor may sense information related to speed, direction of motion, and location of the portable electronic device. The GPS sensor may use signals from earth-orbiting navigation satellites to ascertain the portable electronic device's location. A global positioning system receiver in the portable electronic device may gather signals from the navigation satellites. The global positioning system circuitry may analyze the data from the receiver to calculate the current position of the portable electronic device.
Sensors, such as accelerometer sensors, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) sensors, gyroscopes, compasses, GPS sensors, may be used to determine the movement of the portable electronic device. To accurately determine the speed and location of the portable electronic device, one or more sensors may be used in combination to provide multi-axes measurements. However, use of one or more sensors to perform measurement may consume considerable battery life of the portable electronic device and thus may affect efficiency of the portable electronic device. For example, a GPS sensor may consume more power, when activated, as compared to other sensors in the portable electronic device. Further, the GPS sensor may continue to be activated, even when the portable electronic device is moving slowly or being stationary, resulting in consumption of more power than necessary. Current available portable electronic devices may not provide efficient use of GPS sensors to determine accurate movement and location of the portable electronic devices, when the portable electronic devices are moving slowly or being stationary.